Fadeout
by NaturallyxWritten
Summary: After years of living in a cruel camp with several others, family gone, friends gone, Kim Crawford escapes. Stumbling upon Jack Brewer, the leader of a small group looking for any survivors of the camp, they join forces. Travelling dangerous forests with skilled fighters, the longer Kim is out of that camp, the more dangerous it becomes. They want her dead.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! So, it's been a long time since I've really done anything on fanfiction, but I'm back! I'm sorry it's been so long, but over that long period of time, I've written quite a few stories, and this one is one of the one's I actually finished. I'll be posting a new chapter daily, and I may re-write some of my older stories, because, looking back, they really sucked. My writing has greatly improved, so I think I can improve my stories :P Anyways, on with the story, hope you enjoy! :D**

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><p>I don't know much more of this I can take. The guards, tall and muscular, are dragging people out of the bunker. Everyone watches with sad eyes, what else is there to do? The woman in one of the guards' grasp cries loudly, struggling against his pull, tears flooding down her rosy cheeks. All I can do is look away.<p>

Everyone knows where people who are chosen go. People are chosen at random and are killed, to intimidate everyone else into losing all hope, and to scare everyone into obeying every command given by our leader, Klaus. Everyone is scared of him, even me, not that I'd ever admit it to anyone. The way his black eyes look, his smirk intimidates, they way he talks, acts, reasons, he is one scary bastard.

I haven't lost hope. There's no way I'm letting them win, letting them break me down.

I've tried and tried to convince those around me to rebel, that we could win in numbers…but no one listens, too afraid of any consequences if we don't prevail.

So I decided I'm getting out of here, whether I get help or not.

The door slams closed behind the guards, and the begging of the woman is muffled. Everyone remains quiet and still, knowing that it was inevitable; that woman is about to be killed. They're never going to stop. They're just going to keep killing, until it's down to one single slave, one single terrified person. It isn't until another guard opens the giant metal door and begins yelling, that everyone begins moving, rushing toward the door after grabbing and putting on their shoes.

I hurry along as well, shuffling out the door along with hundreds of others, some stomping on my feet as they hurry out. I make it outside, where we always go, and crouch in the dirt, beginning to work away at tending the garden. Us prisoners spend our days working, or we're killed, and sometimes tortured.

I've been stuck here since I was a child. It's all I've ever known, and I intend on getting out of here. I don't know where I will go, but I know it will be far away from here.

A blood curdling scream is heard before a loud bang pierces the air. I flinch, and the screams stop.

I continue to work, pulling a carrot from the ground. I place it into the basket next to me with shaky hands, my breath uneven. This kill got to me for some reason. It makes me want to leave sooner than ever, to just get up and bolt for it right on the spot. But I know I have to wait for the perfect moment.

I pull another carrot from the ground and pace it in the basket.

I need to make a plan.

And I need to make it now.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't know what time it is, none of us ever do, but it's getting dark. The orange sky looks beautiful, but it's not like we can gaze at the world's beauty in this cruel confinement, where we are always watched, punished for the smallest of things. Earlier today, when an old man helped me lift some logs and bring them back to the piles on the other side of the field, he was stabbed. I feel bad, but there really isn't much I can do. I so badly want to give out a speech and get everyone to band together, to tell them we can get out if we all work together, we can escape…but I don't know if it's true. These people have guns, lethal weapons, whereas we have fists, feet to kick with, but what good will that do us against bullets? Besides, it's not like they'd listen to me anyway, they're probably too scared to do anything that can get them killed.

There really aren't very many kids or old people here, since they seem to be a liability, but those who did make it, probably won't last long. They struggle with almost everything, so the only thing they're good for is gardening or sewing.

The purpose of us being here? Nobody really knows, but I'm going to find out. I mean, what reason does Klaus have for keeping us here, making us garden, chop down trees, sew, build things, everything? What could his motives be?

A shout makes everyone turn to where the chief stands, a paper in hand, smirking. "Liam Henderson, step forward." For a moment, no one moves, everyone just seems to be frozen in their skin, the silence overwhelming.

A male, looking to be in his 40s steps forward, shoulders slumped forward, sweat on his brow— you could tell he's given up. The chief grabs Liam by the arm and roughly shoves him through the open door behind him, then turns back to the rest of us, glancing around at all of us. "As for the rest of you, bed. Now!"

And we're moving like scurrying rats in a group, all headed for the door to the right. We hurry into our room, and climb onto our beds, some whispering to others, some crying, and some completely silent, some like me.

I don't usually get much sleep around here, but I doubt anyone does. I usually lie awake,playing with the loose thread on my uniform, the black pants and t-shirt with a long sleeve white shirt underneath make us look like nurses. But most of the time, I spend my time looking out of the window next to my bed, up at the stars, and just take in the time of peace. The moonlight shines into the room on small portions, but it's enough the light to see everything in here.

I glance over at the empty space next me for a moment, remember the way my parents would always find a way to make me sleep, while they probably tried to plan our way out of here. Look where that got them—they're dead. I miss them a lot, but I know they wouldn't want me wasting my time morning their deaths when I could be getting out of here, and just hopefully, succeed.

There's stomping, pounding footsteps echoing through the halls outside the room, and everyone sits up, waiting for the guard to slam the door open, to shout threats or commands.

But when the guard arrives, he looks tired, and he's holding another thin piece of paper. This can't be good— they're already back for another kill. "Kimberly Hanson." He stated, before looking up and around the room. My eyes widen, but I can't say I am surprised. The killings have been getting more and more frequent. I guess I'm next. I slowly and shakily get to my feet and look the buff man in the eyes, hiding my true terror. He smirks and waves me forward. I take two steps before he grabs me by the arm, and is yanking me out of the room roughly.

I don't struggle. He pushes me down the long corridor, where we can see the door to the back, where they exile people. I take a deep, shaky breath. This is it, do or die. The guard unlocks the door and opens it, shoving me outside and into the cool air roughly. I stammer, but I manage keep my balance and turn back towards him. He turns and reaches down for the gun leaning against the outside of the building.

I take the opportunity to kick my leg up and I manage to knock him to the ground, unmoving. I let out a breath of relief and I smile. I can get out of here. I quickly grab the keys from his belt and make a run for the wall. The concrete surrounding the place I like to call hell, was tall enough to hide any trees on the other side, and was strong enough to keep anyone from even attempting to escape.

I insert the key and turn it, just as I hear a shout from behind me. I turn, on full alert. There is a guard reaching for the gun, his eyes wide, looking at me. As quickly as I possibly can, I open the door and bolt out, closing it behind me and sprinting away. I run into the forest, avoiding anything that could trip me or slow me down. My blonde hair flew behind me as I ran, my feet pounding on the grass, my heart racing in fear and adrenaline. I hear shouts behind me, but I don't stop. If I'm caught, I'm as good as dead. So I continue, but I push myself harder, putting more power into my strides.

There's a cliff.

The first thing that comes to mind is my death. I slow to a stop and look down, seeing how big of a drop it is. And then I see water at the bottom, a waterfall on the other side. And I look back at the running guards, before I jump. I want to scream, but I can't, as if the fear of everything sucks my breath of me. My hair flies in the air and I'm swinging my arms and legs in panic.

I splash through the surface, holding my breath. Everything around me is dark, and I can't find the surface, which way is up. I'm thrashing violently in the freezing water, and my lungs are screaming for air. I look around in the dark, but it's all I see, that and the bubbles floating around me. And then I calm down, and blow a single bubble from my mouth and watch which direction is goes. It must go to the surface, it's my ticket to air. I follow the direction it goes and everything becomes lighter.

I break through the surface of the water, sucking in a heap of air. I cough and spit up water, treading my legs to keep myself above the surface. I pant and make my way over to shore, scrambling to get behind a tree, to hide from any guards looking down, looking for me. My chest heaves, up and down as I breath, and I grip the grass in anxiety, hoping they don't come for me.

Even after waiting another few minutes, my breathing is still heavy, heart pounding wildly. I slowly turn and peek my head out from behind the tree's trunk, searching the cliff's edge for any guards looking down, looking for me. And once I don't see anyone, I stand and take one step back before turning completely, bolting into a run. But I crash into something.

Hands take hold of my arms and I panic and begin screaming, thrashing, struggling. I reach down with one hand and grab my dagger, but the person holding me is too fast, taking my wrist in his hand before I can do any damage. So I look up at my captor, panting.

He was only a teenager, like me. His short brown hair matched his eyes, his muscles showed, and he wasn't wearing the outfit all guards were required to wear. He looks at me, studying me, as if trying to figure out what I'm going to do next, but I just stand there, breathing heavily, shaking, and I drop my weapon. He then looks down and his eyes widen. "You're from the camps."

Tears gather in my eyes and I grip the arms that still hold me. "Please," I beg, "you have you help me."

And then he does something completely unexpected. He smiles. It wasn't a completely content smile, but a reassuring one. He lets go of my arms and holds his hand out. "I'm Jack Brewer."

"Kim Crawford," I say as I take and shake his warm, gentle hand.

"Are you hurt at all?" He questions, his eyes raking over my body, looking for any injuries. I shake my head. "Okay, well, we have camp set up in a clearing about 10 minutes away." He began walking, waving me along.

"Why are you helping me so willingly?" I question, shivering as I follow the attractive brunette through the green forest.

He glances back at me for a moment and smiles. "There's a whole group working against Klaus." He sees my confusion and continues. "We're going to free everyone under Klaus' control. We don't care how difficult the task, we can do it."

"Oh," I manage. What else could I say? I cleared my throat and tried to change the subject. "What were you doing out here in the first place?" He couldn't possibly be hunting for food, since he didn't have any weapons on him. He may have been out looking for wood for a fire pit, but I don't think so.

Jack glances over for a moment. "We go looking for people like you."

"People like me?"

He nods. "Yeah, people who've managed to escape. And we always know." His eyes look down at my clothes and I try not to shiver. "You're soaking wet…"

I shrug, trying to play it off as nothing. "It's how I got away. I had to jump from that cliff back there."

His eyes go wide as he looks at me. He begins to shrug off his jacket and he wraps it around my shoulders, sending a sympathetic smile my way. "You know, you're handling everything better than I would have expected."

"Why, because I'm a girl?"

He shakes his head frantically. "No, no, not at all. It's just, I thought that anyone who'd have to go through something like you have would've been traumatized, scared to be near anyone, let alone trust a stranger."

"I'm not like everyone else," I begin. "Everyone else lost all hope, they just...gave up. But I always had hope. I knew I was going to escape, I had to."

He nods in understanding and stops. He turns towards me and lowers his voice. "There are only five of us here. But the guys can be kind of overwhelming, so watch out for that, but the girls are sweet." I nod in understanding and follow him into the clearing, where three tents were set up. There was a fire pit in the middle of the circled tents, a fire burning brightly. Two girls and two boys sat on the dirt around the fire, smiles on their faces. I inch closer to Jack.

"Guys," he says, grabbing their attention. They all turn their heads and look over to him, and their eyes go wide when they see me. "This is Kim. She escaped from Klaus' camp."

My clothes are still soaked, but I refrained form shaking like a chihuahua. They all just sat there and stared at me, which I honestly found uncomfortable. There were three tents set up, looking to be made for two people each. There was a fire pit between two of them and in the other side of the fire, there was the third, so half of the camp was open. One of the girls, the one with her light brown hair braided to the side, stood and walked over, but Jack shot her a look, probably a way to tell her to be easy. She smiled sweetly at me and held her hand out. "The name's Paige. It's nice you meet you, Kim." Her bright green eyes looked at me, but I could tell, she felt bad for me. I took her hand and shook it firmly. And she jumped, looking up at Jack. "She's freezing!"

I pulled my hand away and shrug. "I'm fine, really."

Jack steps closer to Paige, turning towards me, he touches my arm and without turning he says, "Marina, go get Kim some spare clothes." And he took my arm in his hand gently, pulling me over to the fire while the girl with long black hair goes and gets me some spare clothes. It only takes a moment and she's walking back over to us and handing Jack the clothes and a pair of boots like the ones they all wear. Jack hands the clothes to me and walks me over to a the middle tent. He opened the flap for me. "You can change in here, and you can hang your clothes to dry over there." He points to the right of the camp, where clothes hung from some rope they had tied from one tree to another.

I nod. "Okay, thanks."

I get changed quickly, but leave my black t-shirt untucked, unlike everyone else here. The boots are quite comfortable and with new and dry clothes on, I already feel warmer. The camouflage pants I wear match everyone else's, and I'm glad they fit. They are like skinny jeans on me, and I feel free. I quickly run my fingers through my hair, not wanting to look so bad in front of a group of three guys and two beautiful girls, before I walk out of the tent, holding my wet clothes. I walk over to the ropes where Jack had told me to hang my clothes and drape them over the thick rope, before turning. But I jump when Marina, the girl with long black hair and sky-blue eyes, stands before me, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Nice." She looks over me, a small smile playing on her lips. "Make sure you wring your clothes out before hanging them out." She gestures to my clothes, still dripping, before she steps forward and does it for me. "No worries, you're new here. We don't expect you to know everything."

I nod. "Okay, thank you." I pause, unsure of her. She seems quiet, and she looks intimidating, but she's friendly. But before I can say anything more, she speaks up again.

"I'm not really the socializing type, so if you're into gossip or anything, go to Paige." She informs me, laughing lightly. So that's what it is. "Jack wants you at the fire pit. He is cooking dinner for everyone." I nod again and begin walking away, but she calls out to me again. "Let him know I'm just finishing washing the clothes for me?"

"Sure," I say with a nod, before turning and walking back over to camp, where everyone but Marina sat around the orange and sparking fire. "Jack," I begin, "Marina wants me to tell you she's just finishing washing the clothes."

He nods. "Okay." He pulls a stick with a cooked animal from off the fire and looks up at me. "You must be hungry." He pats the vacant space beside him, and I walk over and sit down next to him. He hands the stick over to me. "Careful," he adds, "it's hot." I nod, adding a smile before cautiously taking a bite from what I think used to be a squirrel. And as soon as the food is in my mouth, I realize just how hungry I am. I haven't eaten in days, but I've gone a long time without eating, so I don't notice as much. I'm done eating in a few minutes, trying to be polite, rather than eating like some rabid wolf would. I place the stick down, and try to act like I'm full, but Jack offers another and I can't refuse. I eat the second offering as everyone still works on their firsts.

"So, Kim," Garrett begins, breaking the silence, "we need as much information about the camps as we can get. It'll make it easier to save everyone. Can you help us?" He watches me, his eyes filled with hope. I look around for a moment, finding everyone waiting for me to answer, to start explaining.

"Sure. If it means saving everyone from such cruelty, I'll do it." I nod in agreement. "What do you want to know?"

Jack leans forward, as if in a way to bring himself upon the conversation. "How guarded is it?"

I think for moment, thinking back to where the guards always stood, and how many of them there were. There were always at least three guards at each door, two guards on duty and one captain of the whole operation. There were plenty of doors, so there were plenty of guards. "A lot," I explain how many stood where and what they did.

"Okay, can you tell us just how you managed to escape?" Ander asks curiously, but he also sounds like he doesn't believe I got out on my own.

I shrug. "They pick someone randomly, about every day now, and they bring them out back, next to the gate. I was called out there and I kicked his head. Knocked him right out. I grabbed the keys he had on his belt and ran out the gate." I explain, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

"But do you know why they brought you and the others back there?" Marina then asks. "What were they planning on doing?"

I take a deep breath. "It's where they take people to execute them."

It goes quiet for a while. They all look at me, their eyes holding sadness, but it isn't too long before Jack speaks up again. "So, you knew they were taking you to be killed?" I nod. "And you tried to escape because you didn't want to die?"

I laugh lightly. "No. I wasn't going to let them win. I promised myself that no matter what, they weren't going to break me, they weren't going to get the better of me. So I did what I had to do, and I got away."

Jack clears his throat and stands. "We can talk more tomorrow. Kim you can room with Paige, and Marina you can choose who you want to room with. I don't mind sharing my tent, but you can always share with Ander or Garrett too."

Marina nods, shrugging. "Okay, I guess I'll share with Garrett."

"Okay, Ander, you can share with me." Jack states. "Get a good night's rest. We head off to HQ tomorrow. We need to get extra supplies now that Kim is here with us."

Everyone nods, and then goes off towards their tents, Paige taking my arm and dragging me along after her. Paige closes the flap of the tent behind us both as I take a seat on one side, leaving room for Paige on the other. Paige sits down across from me, cross-legged, looking at me in what looks like pride. "How did you do it?"

"Do what?" I question, confused as to what she could have meant by that.

"How did you manage to still have hope, after everything you must have been through?" She asks. "How did you make it through all of that cruelty?"

I smile lightly. "There was this boy," I explain it to her, thinking back to the little boy that caused me to keep hope inside me.

It was a dark night, and I had been out, working in the garden as usual. People were scattered across the land, working and struggling. Guards surrounded the area, scanning the terrain for anyone trying to escape or for anyone not doing their jobs. A small boy walked over and crouched in the sand beside me. He smiled. It was rare to see a smile out there, but I appreciated it.

"This won't last forever, you know," He had said, his voice so small, so sweet. "We can get out of here."

But he was suddenly yanked to his feet, and away from me. I watched with wide eyes. A guard had him by the arm, glaring down at him. "Where are you supposed to be?" He growled at the young boy, looking to be around five or six years of age. But he didn't respond, he only smiled and shrugged. I stood quickly, ripping his arm off of the boy and getting in front of him.

"Leave him alone," I stated, my voice strong, standing tall and firm, showing my confidence. "He's working with me."

But the guard only laughed and raised his hand, giving me a big slap, enough to knock me back and into the dirt. I turned towards them again, as quickly as I could, eyes wide, hoping the guard wouldn't hurt the boy. but right as I turned, blood spattered onto my clothes and face, a loud bang tearing through the air. I had screamed, watching the boy fall limp, his temple bloody, blood dripping down his face. I was then grabbed by the arms and dragged away, but my eyes never left the dead boy in the dirt. And the doors were closed, and I lowered my head. The guards threw me down on the floor of an empty room. One of them smirked and picked up a razor from a table by the door and advanced on me. He reached forward and it made contact with my side.

Paige's eyes are wide once I finish my story. "Oh…I'm sorry." She pauses for a moment. "How long ago was this?"

I frown slightly. "It was the day after they killed my dad, the day I had almost given up."


End file.
